Edmonton Huskies Junior Football Team (1962, 1963, 1964)

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Long before the City of Champions slogan became synonymous with the success of the city’s professional sports teams of the 1980s, the Edmonton Huskies owned the richly deserved claim of being the very best. With three consecutive magical seasons from 1962 to 1964 the junior football team earned “Little Grey Cup” national titles.

The Huskies squad is still one of only four football teams across Canada, and the only one from Alberta, to win three straight national titles since the first junior championship game was played in 1908. The Huskies narrowly missed a record-setting fourth straight championship in 1965, falling 2-1 to Montreal’s Notre Dame Maple Leafs.

“This was, indeed, a very special group,” says Dennis Kadatz, the team’s coach in 1962 and 1963. “They were outstanding leaders, loyal and committed team members who came together to achieve just one thing – win while having fun.”

The team was comprised of a group of amateur football players between the ages of 17 and 21 who played purely for the love of the sport and their city. Many Huskies went on to enrich amateur local football by serving as coaches and mentors at the bantam, high school and junior levels.

In 2005, the fabulous junior team that thrilled Edmontonians a half a century ago was inducted in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame. The City of Edmonton is proud to salute the legendary Huskies squad as an integral part of the community’s championship heritage.